1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a brake control system and a brake control method which controls braking force applied to a wheel of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-171498 (JP-A-2001-171498) describes a brake control system which sets a target pressure based on the operating amount of a brake pedal by the driver and controls an electromagnetic valve to realize this target pressure. Also, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-271607 (JP-A-10-271607) describes a brake control system for an electric vehicle provided with mechanical braking means as well as regenerative braking means using an electric motor. This brake control system determines the distribution ratio between regenerative braking and mechanical braking according to the state-of-charge (SOC) of a battery.
Brake control systems in related arts are designed to control the braking force on the assumption that sufficient power will be supplied from a power supply. However, vehicles in recent years are equipped with many electrical components in addition to the brake control system, resulting in less and less reserve in the power supply. Thus, the voltage supplied from the power supply to the brake control system may be temporarily reduced. This may adversely affect brake control performance.